Thisportal. His heart hammered against his ribs as he pocketed the fabric and pressed forward. Just ahead, voices echoed from somewhere beyond the next bend, low and urgent. A faint glow appeared around the curve, the flickering light of torches or lanterns.
Noah froze. There was nowhere to hide in the narrow passage, no alcoves or side tunnels to duck into. If whoever was ahead came this way, they’d see him immediately.
A rumble vibrated through the stone beneath his feet, so low he felt it more than heard it. Small stones rained from the ceiling, pattering against his shoulders. The voices ahead grew more urgent, and he caught fragments of words: “...unstable...” “...behind schedule...” “...must finish before...”
One voice rose above the others, and Noah’s stomach clenched in recognition. Austin.
“The next group comes in, in an hour,” Austin said as the voices moved closer. “The Keeper wants the last of these artifacts moved before the tunnel collapses completely.”
“Collapses?” Noah’s blood turned cold. No! Not before Emily could be safely moved through. How far was the portal from here? Was the tunnel’s instability worse the farther it went? Was this simply a tunnel to get outside the fortress, and the actual portal existed somewhere else entirely? Was there more than one portal, or was this their only chance? Too many unanswered questions remained.
The voices grew even louder. Closer.
Noah turned and ran, no longer able to move stealthily. He’d let them get too close. His boots slipped on loose stone as he scrambled back through the debris field, panic lending speed tohis flight. The tunnel seemed twice as long going back, every shadow a potential threat, every sound the beginning of pursuit.
He burst from the corridor opening near the kitchens, pulse pounding and his breath coming in ragged gasps. Slipping the torch into an empty sconce, he hurried to one of the wooden tables near the kitchen opening and settled onto a bench, careful to arrange his features into an expression of patient waiting.
Just in time.
Four figures emerged from the tunnel entrance, moving with the careful, purposeful coordination of men carrying something heavy and precious. Three were guards Noah recognized from around the fortress, but the fourth was Austin. Two of them bore a large, heavy crate between them, while the other two each carried smaller but obviously weighty trunks. Clearly valuable, Noah surmised, given Austin’s supervision and the care with which they were handled.
Noah kept his eyes downcast, assuming the demeanor of a bored man waiting for his breakfast. The group passed within a few feet but was too focused on their burden to spare him a glance. Sweat beaded Austin’s brow despite the cool air and his face was grim with concentration and something Noah couldn’t quite identify.
As they reached the far end of the common space, one of the crates shifted, and Austin barked a sharp warning. “Careful! That one holds delicate instruments.”
For a heartbeat, Noah feared discovery and turned his face away, barely daring to breathe until he heard the men’s footsteps continue down the corridor.
He waited, impatience nagging at him, until the sound faded completely before rising to follow. If questioned, he’d simply say he’d changed his mind about breakfast and was looking for someone to tell the woman. It was a thin excuse, but all he had.
Trailing the men at a distance, Noah used the maze-like corridors to his advantage. But by the time he reached the central hub of the fortress, they’d vanished along with the crates and their contents, as if they’d never existed.
“Noah!”
He spun around to find Skye striding toward him with Keir further down the corridor, hurrying to catch up. Her face was flushed with exertion, and there was something urgent in her expression that made his stomach clench.
“There you are,” she said, slightly breathless. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Your guard said you went to the kitchens, but?—”
“I did,” Noah interrupted. “I was hoping for breakfast on the terrace, but the woman went to find me some milk and...” He shrugged, hoping the explanation sounded more convincing than it felt.
Skye’s eyes narrowed slightly as she searched his face, and he had the uncomfortable feeling she could see right through his deception. “Some mil?—”
“Mistress Skye,” Keir caught up, his voice urgent. “The watch reports movement on the ascent trail. A woman and two men carrying what appears to be a litter.”
Noah’s heart raced. “Emily?”
Skye’s expression softened as she placed her hand on his arm. “It appears your family has finally arrived.”
“Yes,” he cried, his voice shaky with relief and anticipation. He tried to shove all thoughts of tunnels and portals and mysterious crates from his mind as he hurried with Skye and Keir toward the main gates. After days of waiting, of hoping, of fearing it might be too late, they were finally here. Seeing them was all he cared about.
Even so, the piece of denim in his pocket, proof that the tunnel had seen activity from other times, weighed heavily. Orhad his desperation caused him to be mistaken? He realized the scrap could have been brought here by someone who’d time-traveled from Paige’s time, just as she did. And perhaps migrated to Austin’s ragtag group of outcasts, just as he had, and lost it during his subsequent work in the tunnels.
So perhaps he hadn’t discovered anything at all today. The obvious instability and decay of the tunnel spoke to its age, but that alone was not proof of a viable portal.
Nor was Austin’s activity within it. It could merely be another tunnel to another storage site.
Which all meant he wasn’t any closer to finding his sister’s only hope for survival.
CHAPTER TEN
